James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Cyber Security) Share this | Hansard source

But, Minister, in your answer to my previous question, you said the reason for these changes is to ensure that the committee is reflective of the parliament. No Albanese government minister has previously said that. In fact, they've relied on a different rationale to justify this increase, as did the Attorney-General's Department in the PJCIS hearing and in Senate estimates. They have said that the reason why we need to increase the PJCIS is the workload of the PJCIS, but you didn't mention that in your answer. You've now provided a new explanation as to why this is necessary. Could you clarify: is the reason for the increase in the PJCIS membership because of its workload, or is it so you can change the composition to reflect the will of the parliament or the standing of the parliament?